The Illinois Supreme Court handed down six opinions on Thursday, June 18. In People v. Legoo, the court affirmed a man’s conviction of being a child sex offender in a public park. In People v. Robinson, the court granted a defendant’s leave to file a successive post-conviction petition asserting a claim of actual innocence in a murder trial. In People v. Swenson, the court upheld a man’s conviction for disorderly conduct after he called a school administrator and made extensive comments about shootings and violence during a phone conversation, causing the school to go on lockdown. In People v. Radford, the Supreme Court found that a trial court did not violate a defendant’s right to a public trial by partially closing the courtroom during jury selection and that no error occurred when the jury was instructed.  In City of Chicago v. Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge No. 7, the court ruled that state public information laws require Chicago to preserve decades-old police misconduct records despite a provision in the police union’s collective bargaining agreement. In Hernandez v. Lifeline Ambulance, LLC , the court ruled that section 3.150 of the EMS Act provides no immunity from civil liability to an ambulance owner and its driver where the driver, allegedly speeding, collided with another vehicle en route to pick up a patient for nonemergency transportation.

Dennis J. Orsey, a general practice attorney in Granite City who concentrates his practice in representing downstate police and fire pension funds, will be installed as president of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) on June 19 by Justice Lloyd Karmeier at the Illinois Supreme Court building in Springfield. Orsey will be the first ISBA president elected from Madison County.

In this Quick Takes for Your Practice video, attorney Emily Vivian discusses changing the way you practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice and the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts have launched an application process for two grant initiatives to begin an expansion of the network of court personnel who assist self-represented litigants (SRLs). The application process for both grant initiatives will open on June 15, 2020 and run through July 15, 2020.